I kept the company
of a brother in Deen in the wilderness,
until we broke off from people
and started living in a cave,
hoping that Allah
would open for us the spiritual blessings
which He opens for His friends (awliya’).

We stayed there in the cave
saying to each other
that perhaps this Friday
Allah will make us among His special friends,
or perhaps this month.
But, Allah did not open
any spiritual doors for us.

We were in this state
when an old man showed up
at the door of the cave,
asking us permission to enter.
We granted him permission
and he entered
giving his greeting of salam.

We asked him, ‘Who are you?’
And he replied,
‘I am a slave of the King.’
And with this we knew that he was among
the special close friends of Allah
and we asked him, ‘How is your state?’
And he instead asked us repeatedly, as if blaming us,
‘How is your state?’

And then he said,
‘How is the state of him who says to himself
that perhaps this Friday
I will become a special friend of Allah
or perhaps this month?

There will be no special divine friendship
for such a person, nor any prosperity,
nor good things in this world,
and nor good things in the next world.
Will you two not just worship Allah
in sincerity for His sake
as He has ordered you?
He has said:
‘I have not created the jinn nor man
except to worship Me.
[{al-Qur’an 51:56}].’

He then left us
and we recognized our mistake
and realized that Allah
sent him to us as mercy.
I then returned to my self in blame
and said to it,
‘O my self, who are you,
what is your great action,
and what is your worth?
You amount to nothing.
Then, we made repentance
and asked for forgiveness
from Allah Most High.